Thursday, October 16, 2008

It's Nearly Here!

One of these weekends now, I have a big project coming up. My fall planting bulbs have started arriving! There are two small patches of land out in front of my home that I am planting with Lilies, Narcissus, and other bulbs to bloom from early spring to late summer (if the bulb catalog is to be taken at its word).

I cannot wait... this is going to be fun!

Last night when I got home there was  a box sitting on my porch. It was a shipment from my bulb supplier. It will be cool when they are all in... then in the spring: PICTURES! Okay, I'm a bit of a geek for plants. But what can I say?

Wherever you are today, I hope that you're looking forward to something fun for the weekend!

Don Bergquist - October 16, 2008 - Lakewood, Colorado, USA

2 comments:

Sean Sutherland said...

Bulbs rawk! We have critters that live in the fields around my house that love them even more than I do so, sadly I can't plant anywhere near by. Doing so would draw so many critters to my door it would make Dr. Doolittle blush!

Good luck with the bulbs, looking forward to seeing the pics.

S

Unknown said...

We have critters as well. (The greenbelt is right across the street.)

I've read of two different things to do with bulbs to keep them intact and to discourage critters. My folks suggested a third that I think I am going to try.

The first is to wrap your bulbs in steel wool when you plant them. This will keep the rodents from eating them as the steel wool irritates their teeth so they will not chew through it.

The second idea that I read about on the extension website (and I thought this was clever) is to lay down the bed and cover it with a layer of chicken wire. This keeps the animals from digging up the bulbs but the bulbs will put their shoots up right through the wire.

The last (and as I said the one I am thinking of trying) is to unroll the balls of steel wool and laying a layer of it below the top layer of soil but above the bulbs.

I'm thinking of doing this last one because I am putting down over two hundred bulbs and want to protect them but not worry about them getting eaten. The problem with the chicken wire is not being able to dig through it to add to the planting later...

djb